


All the Falling Stars

by Cascaper



Series: Keeping Composure [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Oh yes, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, and by god the fluff shall be had, i am on a Mission of Fluff, yes I know the other two are in this for all of a couple paragraphs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 23:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13154691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cascaper/pseuds/Cascaper
Summary: Immediately following the events of 'For A Start,' our young sweethearts need to sort some things out before setting off in earnest upon the Road of a Relationship... or at the very least, a makeout. XD





	All the Falling Stars

They didn't say much, that night, on the ride back from the palace. Thancred and Alisaie were only too happy to fill the carriage with chatter, jokes and banter, completely regardless of their fellow Scions' reserve. [Name]'s stomach kept fluttering as the memory of the kiss flashed repeatedly through her brain.

 _What in the seven hells... What are we, now?_ No longer solely friends, that was certain.

Upon arrival back in the Reach, the four agreed on their mutual fatigue, but as they bade each other goodnight Alphinaud met the Warrior's eyes. “Back here in twenty minutes,” he mouthed, and she gave the tiniest nod of assent.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, [Name] returned, once more in her everyday clothes and almost vibrating with nerves. It was all she could do to remain in one spot, peeking every so often around the columns, wondering when he would appear. She was just considering the merits of a swim to cool her head, when a gentle tap on her shoulder nearly made her jump out of her skin. The sight of her ( _love? sweetheart?_ ) friend did little if anything to slow the racing of her pulse; how could it, with moonlight gleaming on his hair and torchlight in his eyes?

They set off round the edge of the water, silently, in search of a more private spot. This turned out to be a ledge of rock behind one of the tents, about a fulm or two deep, where they sat- carefully, hesitantly- side by side. For another suspended moment the silence continued, each unsure of what to say as they stared out at the deserted night.

At last the Warrior found her tongue. “So- tonight-” She swallowed, trying to sort through a veritable hive of thoughts long suppressed. “You felt it too?” was what emerged.

He nodded, just visible from the corner of her eye.

“All this time, I thought it was just me,” she told him. “I thought you didn’t- well, I knew you cared for me, but I never dreamed it was like this.”

Alphinaud’s voice had a touch of the rueful about it, as though he were chiding himself. “Neither did I, for the longest time; I was certain it was merely an infatuation until… Come to think of it, I cannot say precisely when my feelings changed. It might have been Zenith, or the trial by combat, or-” He broke off. [Name] wondered if he too was recalling the day she had bested Ravana. “At any rate I know my own mind now, if not the moment it resolved itself.”

“The moment does not make so great a matter,” she said gently. “Only that you- that you feel the same, that is all. I had nearly resigned myself to keeping my silence forever.”

“As had I.” He shifted closer to her; she matched the adjustment, almost subconsciously.

The Warrior smiled in the darkness, finally turning to him. “We’re still wasting time, aren’t we?” she breathed.

“To hells with that,” he said, and next instant their lips met.

It was as if some dam had burst inside the both of them. They could hardly hold each other close enough. The cool night air quickly proved a blessing as the blood rushed to [Name]'s face, her arms wound round his shoulders, his wrapped firmly about her waist. Only the rather pressing need to breathe made them leave off the embrace, Alphinaud leaning back against the stone, [Name]'s head resting against his chest. One of his hands came up to stroke her hair.

“How rapidly your heart beats, my friend,” he said, when he could speak.

 _Hark who’s talking_ , she thought, feeling a similar thudding against her cheek from behind his breastbone. “So does yours.”

He laughed. “Well... I am in rather close proximity to a beautiful woman. Mayhap you have made her acquaintance?”

The noise the Warrior made in response was somewhere between a squeak and a snort. “Ah, I fear I have not,” she quipped. “Such a pity.”

“Truly,” he agreed, already bending to meet her as she slid up toward him once more.

Bells upon bells went by in this way, bouts of increasingly passionate kisses interspersed with long pauses for air. At one point Alphinaud sat up so fast it made [Name]'s head spin, panting, “Forgive me, I... I believe I have the vapors.” At first the Warrior was not sure what that meant, but when he had recovered, she soon found out.

 _Gods forfend_ , she thought dizzily. _Where has all this been hiding?_ It was thrilling and overwhelming all at once. But she knew better than to break the spell, when all the stars were falling behind her eyelids and the softest lips in the realm were so firmly against her own. It was only the first distant _kweh_ of a chocobo that finally brought an end to their idyll, the signal of approaching dawn.

“Oh dear,” [Name] sighed. “We’ve been out all night?”

“Not quite all night, yet,” Alphinaud answered, helping her to her feet. They headed back across the Reach, the sky barely beginning to lighten, and with one last embrace they went their separate ways to bed.

 _Damn_ , the Warrior thought, sliding under the covers. _Forgot to ask what we are now…_ But there would be time enough for naming things in daylight. Now it was time to sleep.

When she woke, she was still smiling.


End file.
